Im Still Here: An UndertaleEarthbound Fanfic
by Saralight Jade
Summary: Frisk, the eighth human to fall into the Underground, had decided not to fight Asgore and return to the surface. But instead to stay with the skeleton brothers Papyrus and Sans, who have become like family to her. Everything seems peaceful, that is, until Frisk begins to find out more about Sans than she ever thought she could. And catches glimpses of the man who speaks in hands...
1. Prologue

Blood... there was blood everywhere. All over the machine. It took me great lengths just to take it back to the lab without covering myself in the stuff. I figured since I had finished my official duties early I might as well inspect the machine... well, whatever's left of it. The first thing i saw was that it was broken far beyond repair. It had a silver color and round shape, with the exception for its nose-like structure near the center. When i figured out that the device was hollow i looked inside to see, well, more blood first of all. But as always I had to take a closer look inside (I had the proper clothing and tools to do so.). I found the machine was called the "Phase Distorter II" as it was labelled on a metal slate nailed to where the "nose" is, and many blueprints on how to build the device that I archived for later. The most interesting thing, however, was the skeleton. It was fully clothed, and most obviously that of a young boy no more than 10. Even more startling was when I could detect a faint life reading on him, The child still had a soul. While I debated in my mind whether or not I should find his soul and put the boy out of his misery, I saw him open his eyes. He spoke to me. I could barely hear it, but i was able to understand.

"Who...who...you...who...are..."

"calm down, child. There is nothing to be afraid of here, You are safe."

I was able to get the boy on his feet, surprisingly.

"I...i have to..."

"You have to rest, regain your energy. I can't believe you are still alive."

"who...are you?"

"Call me Dr. Gaster."

...

well then.

I do hope Papyrus will treat his new brother properly.


	2. Chapter 1: Happy Anniversary

"SANS!"

"mmn... what is is pap?"

"I NEED YOUR HELP! I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO GET FRISK FOR HER BIRTHDAY!"

"papyrus... its 3 AM. can't you just wait until tomorrow?"

"NO YOU LAZY BONES! TOMORROW IS HER BIRTHDAY! NOW GET UP!"

"alright, fine. just give me a minute."

And that was how Sans and Papyrus spent the night creating Frisk's birthday party.

The next morning, Frisk woke up and went downstairs to find Sans and Papyrus scrambling to finish Frisk's "surprise" party. The entire lower floor was covered in bright colors and confetti, a small pile of presents on top of the coffee table, and a nice big spaghetti-flavored cake. Frisk was almost overcome with joy. This was her 14th birthday, her first in the underground. And it just made it that much more special. No matter how many gifts she got or how the cake tasted. "HAPPY BIRTHDAY HUMAN!" papyrus roared. "I AM SURE YOU WILL ENJOY THIS MASTERFUL CAKE, CREATED BY ME!"

"its the first time papyrus tried baking, its actually really good"

"ARE YOU IMPLYING THAT MY OTHER DELICACIES ARE NOT GOOD?"

"i-uh no of course not papyrus, i-i just think-"

"THINK WHAT?"

"that this might be the best dish you've ever made!"

"GASP! REALLY!? I CAN HARDLY BELIEVE IT MYSELF. THE GREAT CHEF PAPYRUS HAS REACHED THE ULTIMATE LEVEL OF AWESOME! NYEHEHEHEHEHEHEHE!"

Frisk tried the cake, but it didn't taste like spaghetti. Instead, it tasted more like...cinnamon...butterscotch...

...

"UH, HUMAN? ARE YOU CRYING!?"

"kid, what's going on? are you okay?"

"I-I'm sorry, I'll be fine." Frisk whimpered. She had to choke back her tears somehow, or the party will be ruined.

"what's wrong?"

"IS MY CAKE NOT GOOD ENOUGH!?"

"No of course not P-Papyrus, i-its really good... It just reminds me of someone. Someone very special to me.."

"that's all you have to say, kid. we're here for you."

"Thank you."

"ONE MORE THING, HUMAN. WHAT IS YOUR NAME?"

"yeah, come to think of it, we never really got your name."

"My name is Frisk."

As they begun to celebrate once more, there was voice present. One that no-one heard.

"..."

"Frisk..."

"That's-"

"An interesting name."


	3. Chapter 2: Curiouser, Yet Curiouser

Later that night, Frisk had a strange dream... no, more like a vision.

Frisk found herself in a seemingly pitch black room. Until she noticed the dark greenish grid around the room. She was is a battle sequence, but with whom? Then, a large, dark grey mass of... something, came out of the ground in front of Frisk. This caused her to jump back a little, because no monster had appeared like that before! The strange blob began to form into a skeletal, humanoid figure. Similar to that of sans and papyrus, though the brothers had never mentioned this stranger. Frisk was contemplating on how or why she was summoned to a battle when she clearly remembered going to sleep, and nothing else, when the fully formed monster spoke.

"Why, hello Frisk. I have been waiting a long time for a moment to speak with you".

"What!? How do you know my name!? Why have you brought me to a battle!? Who... WHO ARE YOU!?" Frisk yelled, The sight of the blob after what was supposed to be a good night's rest put her under a lot of stress. "Please, do not be alarmed. I am not going to harm you." The monster reassured. "You may call me W.D. Gaster, and I have a knack for listening." Gaster concluded. Frisk protested, "so wait, you were listening in on my conversations with-"

"Sans and Papyrus? Why yes, I have been studying you for a while now.". Gaster interrupted. "Well, isn't that just a tad bit creepy?" Frisk argued. " It can be very unsettling for someone like you, I can tell. But at this point, I would not put my reputation over my research.". Gaster retorted. "And why is that?" Frisk asked. Gaster chuckled. "Well, to put it simply, I don't really exist in this reality. Or at least, I don't anymore.". Frisk was dumbfounded. "WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT!?"

"Would you PLEASE be quiet!?". Gaster barked. Frisk quickly silenced herself. "I only have a couple of seconds left before I must go back to the void. So I must cut to the chase quickly." He continued. "It's about Sans, your friend. The fact is that you don't know nearly as much about him as you think. He's not even a m- NO! not now!". Gaster's time was nearly up. "alright. I can't tell you everything now, but I can give you some clues before I go. Whenever you can, make your way to San's room. He has a drawer with a silver key, that key is used to unlock a secret room in the basement. DON'T FORGET!" Gaster commanded. "When am i going to see you again!?" Frisk cried out, but it was too late. Gaster had already disappeared, and she could feel herself waking up.


	4. Chapter 3: The Shattered Truth

Frisk got to play around with her new camera that she got as a birthday present from the day before. Taking pictures of herself with all the monsters in Snowdin, and having a nice cinnamon bunny on top of it. It seemed like a normal day, until Frisk remembered what Gaster said about Sans's room. She walked back to the brother's house for dinner, coming up with a plan. That evening, while Sans was reading Papyrus his bedtime story, she went to check if San's room was unlocked. She went to his door and saw, lucky enough, that it was. Frisk sneaked inside, careful not to alert the two brothers. She was quick with navigating the room, stealing the silver key, and leaving without anyone noticing. She had a lot of practice with Papyrus's many puzzles. As she made her way downstairs, she was suddenly told to stop. "what are you doing up so late, kiddo?", it was Sans. He was on his way back from Papyrus' room. "I was uh, just getting a glass of milk before bed. I was so excited about all the things we're going to do tomorrow, that I couldn't sleep!" Frisk improvised. "fair enough. just make sure not to make too much noise. m'kay?" Sans replied. "I got it." Frisk answered, relieved that Sans believed her. "thanks, 'night Frisk" Sans finished as he calmly strolled to his room. Frisk let her sigh of relief go. Even though she was rarely one to lie, she was always afraid of the kind of punishment she would get for lying. Even when the brothers never got really mad at her. She wondered if going to sleep now would let her see Gaster again. After a bit of mental bickering, she decided not keep her hopes up for now and find these "clues".

Snowdin must be very cold at night, Frisk thought. So she changed from her pajamas to her purple and blue sweater, black trousers, and black sneakers, as she made her way outside. It took her a while to figure out that the basement was behind the house. And when she found the door, it was a circular hatch, rather than a normal cellar door. It took a lot of strength for Frisk to open the door. Probably because it was rusty from lack of care. As she slowly climbed down the basement ladder, she could see more and more of the room. Which looked a lot more like a laboratory or a workshop than the kind of basement she'd expect the brothers to have. But the strangest part was what was inside the room. There was a side counter with drawers and blueprints written in handwriting Frisk couldn't understand. there were also different items in each of the drawers. Like a badge that looked more like a compass, a photo album of people that Frisk didn't recognize, and a poorly drawn picture of three smiling people with the written words "don't forget". This was all very confusing to Frisk. Why did Sans own these? Why didn't he tell her about it? What made Gaster think that she would learn more about sans by finding this room? Frisk was about to leave before she noticed the large, purple curtain. She edged closer to it, with a feeling of dread building inside her, before nearly ripping the curtain off its hinges.

What Frisk saw, or at least what she think she saw, was one of the single most disturbing things she would ever know.

It was covered with blood. The Machine was cracked open, much like a skull, with what seemed to be rotting entrails inside, along with several broken bones strewn about. The stench of death filled Frisk's nostrils, and it was enough to make her vomit. As she stared at the scene before her, it felt like everything in the world was wrong, that the world was a terrible place, that she couldn't trust the ones she thought was family anymore, all in one moment. Then, she realized that the blood was... moving, reaching out to her. She could hear a faint, raspy voice calling her name. It became louder, and louder. The blood covered the entire room, even the walls and the ceiling, as it reached up at Frisk. The voice seemed to screech in her ears, as if it was intending to make her ears bleed. Frisk screamed her lungs out and she fled the workshop, a waterfall of tears streaming down her face, screaming into the night. As the horrific image dissipated into a black goo.


	5. Chapter 4: The Void Works Mysteriously

All of Snowdin awoke to hear Frisk scream.

The first to burst outside to comfort the distressed child was the shopkeeper and her children. The shopkeeper had brought her frying pan in case the cause of Frisk's terror was dangerous. But instead, they just found the girl at the edge of the forest, crumpled in a fetal position. The children called out for help because they noticed a noticeably large cut on Frisk's right side. Sans and Papyrus, soon followed, running out of their house in their pajamas to comfort their friend.

Papyrus: "FRISK! OH MY GOD, WHAT HAPPENED!?"

Sans: "were you in a battle? did someone hurt you? are you okay!?"

Frisk had to put together a string of sentences through her mental breakdown.

"T-there w-was this r-r-room... a... a b-basement wh-with c-cold w-wa-walls, and... all this *hic* b-blood and.."

"frisk... where was this basement"

Frisk hesitated to answer, but she didn't want to lie to her friends a second time.

"It w-w-was behind *hic* the h-house.. I-I..."

"it's alright frisk... just calm down."

"WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT SANS!? THIS IS NO TIME TO CALM DOWN AT ALL! FRISK IS SERIOUSLY HURT!"

"you should get her some bandages, pap. before the wound gets infected"

Papyrus was about to object, but he glanced at Frisk's wounds and went to do as his brother asked.

For Frisk, the events leading up to her going to sleep went by like a blur. But the moment she laid her eyes shut, she fell right into another vision. She was in the battle room. And she saw the black blob make its way towards her again, taking a now familiar form.

"Gaster?"

"It is good to see you again, Frisk. I... sincerely apologize for these recent events"

F: "It's alright I guess."

G: "Well, I will have to ask you to return to that room."

F: "What!? NO! I am NOT! do you realize what that... that THING in there did to me!?"

G: "I promise, whatever you saw in that room will be gone. I can assure you"

F: "how can you promise that? You don't even exist!"

G:"because I was the one who created it."

F:"WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY-

G"WOULD YOU PLEASE BE QUIET AND LET ME EXPLAIN!?"

G:"Thank you."

F:*quiet whimper*

G:"Now, what was in my room was one of the amalgamates that I created during my career as the royal scientist. They are some my most stable connections to your reality. I was trying to use it to give you more instructions but... the creature had other plans. And again, I apologize."

F: "I still have a lot of questions. What do all those items in the room mean? What do they have to do wth Sans? Why did Sans keep all this from me!?"

G:"All of your questions will be answered, after you do one last favor for me."

F:"And what is that?"

G:"Before i left your plane of reality, Sans took part as a test subject in my research. Sadly, the experiment was never completed, as he was unwilling to see my point of view. I want you to complete the last part in my experiment. I promise, if it works, both you and Sans will not have regretted it. It's a simple task, really."

Gaster stretched out his hand. A syringe, as well as several vials of bright red liquid, appeared in his palm.

"take these vials of liquid determination with you. Then, when Sans is alone with you, take the syringe and inject the serum into him. Do it quickly, to have a better chance of it working. You need to keep him standing for at least a minute, no matter how unstable he gets-"

F:"How unstable he gets!? What will the determination do to him!?"

G:"Well, I'm not exactly sure. I have performed this experiment with other monsters and... they... well, they melted, to put it Bluntly."

F:"MELTED!? NO! ABSOLUTELY NOT! I AM NOT GOING TO LET MY FRIEND MELT FOR YOUR RESEARCH! YOU SICKO!"

Frisk tried to run, but she felt numb, and couldn't move an inch.

G:"Now, as for the matter of your noncompliance, I have something that will persuade you to think twice about your jumping to conclusions..."


	6. Chapter 5: Someone Entirely New

"SANS... DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHERE FRISK IS!?"

"nope. Are you sure you looked everywhere?"

"ABSOLUTELY!"

"alright, i'll try looking, i guess."

"YOU BETTER GET GOING! WHAT IF FRISK GETS HURT AGAIN"

"alright alright i'm going!"

Sans said begrudgingly as he stepped out of the brothers' house. After what happened last night, he will have to make sure Frisk tells one of them where she is going before she ventures out. He asked all around the town, but nobody knew where Frisk was. Papyrus must've already tried that, he thought, so he decided to look the one place where papyrus couldn't; the workshop. Sans opened the door slowly, as to not startle anyone if they were inside, and he found Frisk. She was sobbing on the floor, next to... the machine.

"frisk, why are you here? didn't someone attack you here?"

Frisk's voice was very faint.

"Please... don't do this.. I...I...I just wanted to know..."

Silence.

Sans walked toward Frisk, realizing what she was trying to say, and hugged her.

"its alright, kid, i understand. from now on, no more secrets, alri- GAH!"

Sans cried out, feeling the sensation of being stabbed in the back, he turned his head around to see a syringe embedded into his back, with Frisk's hand injecting determination from the syringe.

"frisk.. f-frisk stop! what are you doing!?"

"I'm... I'm so sorry... I'm so sorry..."

Frisk repeated the same phrase over and over again. She continually injected the liquid into Sans, trying to keep him standing, watching him melt, before she passed out.

~The next day~

Frisk woke up, but she kept her eyes closed. She felt very warm. For living in Snowdin, this was a very welcome feeling to her. She snuggled closer the the source of the heat, before hearing a small grunt. She shot her eyes open at the startling sound, and saw what was the source of the heat, or rather, who was. And she felt heat rising all over her own face.


	7. Chapter 6: Red Soul, Blue Soul

..."frisk?"

he looked at the girl that lay next to him. A look of pure shock was on her face. He reached his hand out to pat Frisk, but then he realized. His hand was human. The layers of muscle and skin over his bones created a soft, warm feeling. One that he hadn't felt in so long...

He started to feel the warmth all over his body, especially around his scalp. He reached his hand up to his head, and felt hair. This can't be happening. He got up, and stumbled back a little, looking for a mirror. He tore the large purple curtains to Look at his reflection on the broken machine.

Ness.

That was the boy who stared back at him, speechless.

He looked back at Frisk, the girl. How did she know to do this? How did she finds out about his true identity? There were so many questions to be asked, but at that moment, it didn't matter. He sped out the door before Frisk could even call for him. She quickly got up and followed after the boy. She didn't have to go too far, as she found the boy right outside Papyrus and Sans' house. He was frolicking in snow like he was having the time of his life.

"Sans...?"

The boy turned around to look at Frisk. A smile spread across his face. A comforting, genuine smile.

"Frisk... I now this is a lot to take in. And-"

"I'm so sorry"

The boy seemed confused for a second, before running up to Frisk and hugging her.  
"Please... don't be... thank you."

Frisk backed up a little before realizing that the boy was leaning a little too much, and they both fell into the snow. The boy got up only to see that he and Frisk were in a... awkward position. He quickly stood up off of her, trying to hide his blush, and Frisk followed suit.

F: "Sans.."

S: "That's not my real name."

F: "What is it then?"

S:"Ness"

F: "W-we should go back inside, uh, Papyrus must be worried sick."

Ness: "Oh, alright then."

The two began to get up and dust off the snow.

Never in Frisk's life has she ever seen someone so happy to be freezing cold.


	8. Chapter 7: Seeing is Believing?

"SANS!? HAVE YOU FOUND FRISK YET? YOUR SPAGHETTI IS GETTING COL-"

Papyrus stopped himself as he saw what was clearly not Sans. Or at least, not the Sans he knew. He was, however, wearing the same clothes as Sans, and covered in dust.

Papyrus's smile faltered as he thought about what this could mean.

"H-HELLO SMALL HUMANS." Papyrus trembled. "MAY I ASK WHERE MY BROTHER IS?" Papyrus paused. As if trying to hold back tears. "H-HE WAS WEARING.. A BLUE COAT... W-W-W-WITH..."

Ness cut him off, "Papyrus it's OK, I'm right here. There's no need to be upse-"

"DON'T LIE TO ME, HUMAN!" Papyrus yelled, and then was taken aback by his own aggression. "F-FRISK, YOU WILL TELL ME THE TRUTH, RIGHT? WHERE IS SANS?"

Frisk pointed at Ness, whilst nodding her head.

"A-ALRIGHT THEN... OTHER HUMAN, I WILL BELIEVE YOU. IF YOU TELL ME ONE THING THAT ONLY SANS WOULD KNOW."

Ness pondered this for a while.

"..Remember when you and I first met the rabbit lady and her kids? You tried one of her cinnamon bunnies, and you ended up having a sneezing fit just ten minutes later. We kept going back there for a few days, and you thought you had a sugar allergy after a week of the same thing happening. But it turned out it was just the dust bunnies."

Papyrus's face lit up instantly. He picked up the small boy, and hugged him tightly.

"SANS! I WAS SO WORRIED! WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU? WHY ARE YOU AN ADORABLE LOOKING HUMAN? I HAVE SO MANY QUESTIONS!"

"I'll try to answer all your questions, Pap. I just need a little rest."

"GREAT! YOU AND FRISK COULD HANG OUT WHILE I MAKE A FRESH BATCH OF SPAGHETTI! " Papyrus trumpeted, as he marched toward the kitchen.

Ness turned to face Frisk. "Welp, I'm sure glad that worked out."

"Poor Papy, he was this close to bawling." Frisk replied.

"There's one more thing I want to ask you before I take a nap." Ness suggested.

"What's that?" Frisk asked.

The boy's face turned a little red.

"...Do I look cute to you?"


	9. Chapter 8: It's time to let go

The months that followed were not as hot as Ness thought they would be. After all, one human in the underground always caused a bit of stress, but TWO? That'd be catastrophic! That meant Ness could only go out at night, and he couldn't visit Grillby's.

Naturally, the poor boy was distraught, But he tried his best to hide it from Frisk and Papyrus. Papyrus was his brother! Frisk... what she did for Ness proved to him that she really was a good person, and he wouldn't forget that anytime soon. One night, however, Ness had his big break.

Papyrus looked like he was about to cook a fresh new batch of spaghetti when he looked at Ness and Frisk, and he saw they were clearly upset. He hated to see his brother upset, even when it meant letting him go to that gross restaurant to make him happy. Papyrus decided to make a really important decision that night. "...SA- I MEAN... NESS?" Papyrus asked.

"what is it, papyrus?" Frisk answered for Ness.

Papyrus breathed a heavy sigh "WELL, I.. UH... WELL..." Papyrus cleared his throat. "YOU TWO... SHOULD UH...GO OUT."

Ness brought his attention towards Papyrus. His eyes widened.

Papyrus resumed. "I.. DON'T WANT YOU... TO LIVE THIS WAY ANYMORE."

"What are you talking about?" Ness inquired. "I'm fine."

"NOT REALLY." said Papyrus. "YOU DON'T LOOK HAPPY. YOU DON'T SMILE ALL THE TIME LIKE YOU USED TO..." he looked at frisk." AND PEOPLE SHOULDN'T HAVE TO LIVE ALL CLOGGED UP INDOORS, HUMAN OR NOT" he continued." A-AND THAT'S WHY I'M...KICKING YOU OUT!"

Frisk and Ness stood up in unison. "wait, WHAT!?" Ness shouted.

Papyrus stuttered. "WELL, NOT ACTUALLY KICKING YOU OUT, BUT MORE UH.. FORCING YOU TO START AND SMELL THE ROSES?"

The three stood in silence.

Frisk patted Ness's shoulder. "he does have a point."

"..are you gonna be okay without us?" Ness asked, as he made his way to the front door, Frisk being close behind him.

"OH SURE! YOU BOTH HAVE MY PHONE NUMBER, WELL TALK TO EACH-OTHER ALL THE TIME! ..RIGHT?" Papyrus gushed.

"Of course we will!" Frisk beamed, before giving papyrus a bug familial hug.

Frisk ran outside and turned to see the white expanse that led to Waterfall, and she stopped. This is the farthest Frisk has gotten, and she heard all the warnings, from the monsters in the Ruins, to the monsters in and around Snowdin, from Toriel...

And then there was that flower.

"Hey..!"

Frisk was brought out of her train of thought by Ness, who brought his hand out.

"I know what lies beyond may look scary, but... you're not going to be alone"

Frisk's face lit up as she enthusiastically took the boy's hand and shook it.

*...Ness joined your party!

As Ness and Frisk walked towards the entrance to Waterfall, hand in hand, he whispered something under his breath;

"...Not this time..."


End file.
